Preliminary Evidence for the Emergence of a Health Care Online Community of Practice: Using a Netnographic Framework for Twitter Hashtag Analytics.

BACKGROUND: Online communities of practice (oCoPs) may emerge from interactions on social media. These communities offer an open digital space and flat role hierarchy for information sharing and provide a strong group identity, rapid flow of information, content curation, and knowledge translation. To date, there is only a small body of evidence in medicine or health care to verify the existence of an oCoP. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to examine the emergence of an oCoP through the study of social media interactions of the free open access medical education (FOAM) movement. METHODS: We examined social media activity in Twitter by analyzing the network centrality metrics of tweets with the #FOAMed hashtag and compared them with previously validated criteria of a community of practice (CoP). RESULTS: The centrality analytics of the FOAM community showed concordance with aspects of a general CoP (in terms of community, domain, and practice), as well as some specific traits of a health care community, including social control, common purpose, flat hierarchy, and network-based and concrete achievement. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated preliminary evidence of an oCoP focused on education and based on social media interactions. Further examination of the topology of the network is needed to definitely prove the existence of an oCoP. Given that these communities result in significant knowledge translation and practice change, further research in this area appears warranted.

Top 10 (+1) tips to get started with in situ simulation in emergency and critical care departments.

Simulation is increasingly valued as a teaching and learning tool in emergency medicine. Bringing simulation into the workplace to train in situ offers a unique and effective training opportunity for the emergency department (ED) multiprofessional workforce. Integrating simulation in a busy department is difficult but can be done. In this article, we outline 10 tips to help make it happen.

Simulcast: a case study in the establishment of a virtual community of simulation practice.

Virtual Communities of Practice (vCoP) is a nascent approach to professional development for simulation educators (Thoma et al., Simul Healthc. 2018;13(2):124-30). vCoPs overcome geographic barriers to accessing expertise and professional networks and may promote 'democratisation' of voices in the simulation community. However, the optimal process for creating, nurturing and joining vCoPs in healthcare simulation is not well understood. We report on the establishment of our healthcare simulation hybrid podcast/blog-Simulcast (www.simulationpodcast.com)-utilising the conceptual framework of Wenger's three dimensions of Communities of Practice. In exploring these dimensions-joint enterprise, mutual engagement and shared repertoire-we hope to contextualise vCoP within professional development approaches for simulation faculty and invite readers to engage with our existing community.

Initial Standardized Framework for Reporting Social Media Analytics in Emergency Care Research.

The use of social media platforms to disseminate information, translate knowledge, change clinical care and create communities of practice is becoming increasingly common in emergency and critical care. With this adoption come new lines and methods of inquiry for research in healthcare. While tools exist to standardize the reporting of clinical studies and systematic reviews, there is no agreed framework for examining social media-based research. This article presents a publication and appraisal checklist for such work and invites further collaboration in the form of a Delphi technique to clarify, expand, improve, and validate the proposal.

Establishing a Virtual Community of Practice in Simulation: The Value of Social Media.

STATEMENT: Professional development opportunities are not readily accessible for most simulation educators, who may only connect with simulation experts at periodic and costly conferences. Virtual communities of practice consist of individuals with a shared passion who communicate via virtual media to advance their own learning and that of others. A nascent virtual community of practice is developing online for healthcare simulation on social media platforms. Simulation educators should consider engaging on these platforms for their own benefit and to help develop healthcare simulation educators around the world. Herein, we describe this developing virtual community of practice and offer guidance to assist educators to engage, learn, and contribute to the growth of the community.